Kluvers, Sumaila named National Players of the Year
November 11, 2016 • Fort Kent, ME

Virginia Beach, Virginia—The University of Maine at Fort Kent collected numerous awards Thursday night at the annual USCAA National Championships fall awards banquet for all three fall sports, including women’s and men’s soccer, National Player of the Year awards.

Sherifatu Sumaila and Ben Kluvers were both named national player of the year for their magnificent seasons on the pitch. Sumaila had 37 goals and 12 assists during the regular season, good for first and fifth respectively in the USCAA. Sumaila was a difference maker on the field with her finishing ability and playmaking skills, leading the Bengals to an undefeated regular season and the number one overall seed in the women’s soccer tournament.

Kluvers, was named the National POY for an unprecedented, third consecutive season. Kluvers regained his form from the first two seasons after recovering from foot surgery during his junior season. Kluvers scored 30 goals during the regular season, including a hat trick in a rematch of the championship game against Bryant and Stratton earlier in the season. Kluvers had nine double digit goal games and three hat tricks on the year.

UMFK was one of the most decorated teams in quite possibly the most important category recognized at the banquet, Academic All-Americans. To be qualified as a student-athlete, a 3.5 cumulative GPA must be maintained throughout the student-athletes career.

Representing women’s soccer was: Alexandra Beauchesne, Brianna Mills, Danielle Pelletier, Emma Ashby, Jessica Kozachuk, Kendra Freund, and Marie-Laurence Montagne.

For the men’s side: Davian Glenn, Jamie Reid, Kalusha Kotes, Kimar Smith, Odean Irons, Ricardo Whitely, and Stefan Petricevic were chosen.

On the volleyball side, sophomores Adriana Gutierrez and Justine McCorkle both were selected as Academic All-Americans.

UMFK also placed ten student-athletes on the sport specific All-American teams. Brianna Krystek, a senior outside hitter, was selected as a first team All-American for the second consecutive season. She was second in kills per set and third in total kills during the season. She set the UMFK record with 766 kills and helped the team achieve a school record of 24 victories during the regular season.

Selina Castro, a senior setter was also named to an All-American team for the second straight season. Last season she was named to the Honorable-Mention team, but did one spot better, as she was named to the second team this season. Castro was ranked number seven in total assists with 855 and currently has the school record with 1738 total assists.

The Bengals soccer teams were each well-represented on the All-American teams, with four players from each team being awarded. Kluvers and keeper Ahkeim Forbes were repeat, from 2015, first team All-American winners in 2016. Defender Stefan Petricevic and midfielder Odean Irons make their first appearance on the USCAA All-American first team. These four helped the Bengals to a perfect 20-0 regular season and will be looking for back-to-back USCAA National Championships.

On the women’s side, Brianna Mills and Catherine Bruno make their third consecutive appearances on the first team. This season they are joined by teammates, Sherifatu Sumaila and Amairani Carbajal. The Bengals are chasing their fourth consecutive USCAA National Championship and fifth in six seasons after completing an unblemished 17-0 regular season.

All three teams will continue pool play action today (Friday, November 11^th) in Virginia Beach, Virginia.